Couple purchase their first home against the odds.

Last year the number of first-time buyers reached a 12-year high. Undeterred by Brexit, a mass movement of hopeful first-time buyers looked to take advantage of the stamp duty relief introduced in the winter budget 2017. The Bank of England under growing pressure to increase interest rates helped circumstances by an only slight increase in rates to 0.75% in the summer.

Like many eager young purchasers, our clients from Leicester were no different. Ben and Jess had been living with parents for 18 months in a desperate bid to save for their first home. The couple had very specific requirements on location and property type. The Location was important because they wanted to be situated in an affluent area in between both sets of parents. Ben and Jess were very much in agreement, they both loved the traditional double bay fronted semi-detached houses. Unfortunately within the search area they had dramatically limited themselves to the choices available.

After 6 months of searching, Ben found the golden ticket on Rightmove during his lunch break at work. A double bay fronted house within a mile each side of their parents. Ben phoned Jess to tell her the good news and later that day booked a viewing for the following weekend.

Fast forward to the post viewing discussion driving home, Ben and Jess had fallen in love with the house. They had scoped the place fully and even discussed where their furniture would go. The property was slightly more expensive than they had hoped, and the sellers weren’t offering any negotiation in the asking price. The couple had to pull on the bank of mum and dad to increase the deposit so they could begin their mortgage application.

‘In steps UK Property Finance…’

During the mortgage application, it came to light that Jess had some adverse credit. This was due to an incorrect postal address and not being aware of a commitment to repay. Panicked and confused Jess had to find an alternative broker.UK Property Finance stepped in to keep the couples dream of owning their own home alive. UKPF were called upon to find them a lender that would not only consider the gifted deposit but also the adverse credit history. UKPF had to relay the circumstances to the lender to put context to the situation. In 48 hours the team had managed to find a lender who offered low costs and a competitive rate. Once the application was submitted the couple could get back on track with the typical sales process.

8 weeks later they have now completed on the transaction and are slowly moving their belongings from mum and dads to their new home. Ben had to contend with changing jobs during the transaction but because of the constant update from UKPF he was able to inform the lender with employment references and what could be quite a stressful situation was resolved swiftly.